The Iraqi Human Rights Centre sent a letter to the UN general
secretary detailing the horrible situation of human rights in Iraq. It mentions
the irresponsible US action of handing 15,000 prisoners to the Iraqi government
that does not guarantee the safety of prisoners and is contrary to international
law. They knew well that most of those prisoners will either be assassinated,
judged without charges, humiliated to the degree of annihilation or forced to
leave the country.

It mentions, too, the case of 19,000 families in Najaf stripped
of their rights and collectively punished. These poor people are obliged to
leave their homes and city solely for being suspected of being against the local
government. This reminds us of the sectarian killings that produced five million
refugees and the displaced. It is the modern educated middle class that is
targeted.

This is the American liberation of Iraq and bringing democracy.
Horrible!

Hiba
Al-Shamaree, an Iraqi woman
writer/blogger who has been kidnapped/arrested by the Iraqi forces on
the 20th of January 2010 in the Sayyediya neighborhood in Baghdad.
She has been arrested, detained and put on
trial because of writing an anti-occupation blog. Please take action
for her release. Go to Layla Anwar's webpage to find out
what you can do.

The charges pressed against her :
Inciting to violence and supporting the Resistance and according to
informed sources this is a charge that falls under the clause of
Terrorism as per the Iraqi law.

Hiba lived in Amman with us, but she
insisted on going to Baghdad on a humanitarian mission/assignment, for a
project financed by an Indian NGO called HMOK and which dealt with deaf
and mute Iraqi children. Hiba was working as a consultant for this
Indian NGO.

They discovered her pen name Hiba Al
Shamaree because when they arrested her she had her laptop with her
which they confiscated and they saw the articles she has been posting on
her blog.

Signed Huda Al Shamaree, sister
of the doctor and writer Hiba Al Shamaree.

A/HRC/13/42Joint study on secret detention
of the Special Rapporteur on torture & other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and
protection of human rights & fundamental freedoms while countering
terrorism, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention & the Working Group
on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

1. With regard to secret detention
practiced by the Iraqi government, the United Nations Assistance Mission
for Iraq (UNAMI) referred to “unofficial detention” by Iraqi authorities,
notably the Ministry of Interior, in several of its reports.[1] One
facility, Al-Jadiriya, is mentioned repeatedly in this connection.[2] In
2006, drawing attention to the lack of effective investigations after
its discovery UNAMI noted that “One year after the discovery of the
illegal detention centre of Al-Jadiriya’s bunker in Baghdad, on 13
November 2005, where 168 detainees were unlawfully detained and abused,
the United Nations and international NGOs […] continue to request that
the Government of Iraq publish the findings of the investigation on this
illegal detention. It may be recalled that a Joint-Inspection Committee
was established after the discovery of the Al-Jadiryia’s bunker in
November 2005, in order to establish the general conditions of detention.
The existence of the bunker was revealed after a raid of the Ministry of
Interior’s bunker by MNF I/Iraqi forces. The Iraqi Government should
start a judicial investigation into human rights violations in
Al-Jadiriya. The failure to publish the Al-Jadiriya report, as well as
other investigations carried out by the Government regarding conditions
of detention in the country, remains a matter of serious concern and
affects Iraq’s commitment to establish a new system based on the respect
of human rights and the rule of law.”[3] Another unofficial place of
detention under the Minsitry of Interior was the so-called “Site 4.”
UNAMI described the following: “On 30 May [2006], a joint inspection led
by the Deputy Prime Minister and MNF-I, in a prison known as “Site 4,”
revealed the existence of 1,431 detainees with systematic evidence of
physical and psychological abuse. Related to alleged abuses committed at
“Site 4,” a probe by 3 separate investigative committees was set up.
After two and a half months, the probe concluded that 57 employees,
including high-ranking officers, of the Ministry of Interior were
involved in degrading treatment of prisoners. Arrests warrants against
them were allegedly issued, but no arrests have reportedly yet taken
place.”[4]

2. In relation to Kurdistan province, UNAMI noted in 2006: “Despite
concrete acknowledgement by the KRG [Kurdistan Regional Government] of
the arrest of individuals by […] intelligence and security forces and
their detention at unofficial detention facilities, there appears to be
little impetus by the authorities to effectively address this pervasive
and serious human rights concern. There has been little official denial
of the existence and sometimes locations of secret and illegal detention
cells in Suleimaniya and Erbil which are often no more than rooms in
private houses and government buildings.” UNAMI reiterated in 2007 that
“the practice of administrative detention of persons held in the custody
of the Asayish (security) forces in the Kurdistan region, the majority
having been arrested on suspicion of involvement in acts of terrorism
and other serious crimes. Many are said by officials to be members or
supporters of proscribed Islamist groups. Hundreds of detainees have
been held for prolonged periods, some for several years, without
referral to an investigative judge or charges brought against them. In
some cases, detainees were arrested without judicial warrant and all are
routinely denied the opportunity to challenge the lawfulness of their
detention. UNAMI also continues to receive allegations of the torture or
ill-treatment of detainees in Asayish detention facilities. […] On 28
January and again on 27 February [2007], families of detainees arrested
by Asayish forces demonstrated before the Kurdistan National Assembly in
Erbil, demanding information on the whereabouts of detained relatives
and the reasons for their arrest […].”[5] In 2009, UNAMI further
reported that “The KRG 2006 Anti-Terrorism Law, which forms the legal
basis for many arrests, has been extended into mid-2010. […]UNAMI/HRO
continues to document serious violations of the rights of suspects and
those deprived of their liberties by the KRG authorities. These include
claims of beatings during interrogation, torture by electric shocks,
forced confessions, secret detention facilities, and a lack of medical
attention. Abuse is often committed by masked men or while detainees are
blindfolded. [6]

3. The Experts took up the case of a group of individuals arrested and
held in secret detention for prolonged periods in the spring 2009 in
connection with accusations against Mr. Al-Dainy, a former member of
Parliament.[7] According to the allegations received, several former
collaborators of Mr. Dainy were arrested in February 2009, held in
secret detention at a number of different locations. In particular, they
were detained in a prison in the Green Zone run by the Baghdad Brigade.
Their families were not notified of their whereabouts for several months.
The current location of eleven persons is still not known. While being
held at the Baghdad Brigade prison, most of them were severely
ill-treated, including by beating with cables, suspension from the
ceiling with either the feet or hands upwards for up to two days, or
electroshocks. Some had black bags put over their heads and were
suffocated for several minutes until the bodies became blue several
times in a row. Also, some had plastic sticks introduced in the anus.
They were also threatened with the rape of members of their families.
They were forced to sign and fingerprint pre-prepared confessions. As a
result of the ill-treatment, several of them had visible injuries on
several parts of their bodies. Many lost considerably weight.

For the BRussells
Tribunal, its supporters and audience, secret prisons in Iraq are no
surprise. We made repeated alerts during years that repression in the
“New Iraq” is systematic.
Repression in Iraq takes multiple forms: deprivation of resources and
services, arrests, assassinations, deportation of millions, torture of
every kind, death squads, hanging and other death penalties,
confiscating property and houses, blowing up residences, markets and
groupings, killing at checkpoints and in the streets for no reason,
trade of children and women, inhuman conditions in secret or public
prisons, rape of children, men and women, killing from the air, killing
on identity, kidnappings, stealing during investigation, extorting money
from prisoners, stealing organs in hospitals, killing academics,
journalists, doctors and state servants, threats, deprivation of legal
rights and human rights, imprisonment without charge for long periods of
time, re-imprisonment of the innocent after release, illegal and unfair
trials, etc. All Iraqi communities are victims of this repression.

This repression, coupled with corruption and a policy of disinformation
and lies and the fomentation of civil strife, is a hell of blood and
fear in which Iraqis live. Iraqis know this well. They know that the
American withdrawal from cities is in reality handing the dirty job to
their local puppets. Maliki is the proconsul of this repression. It is
his electoral platform and his way to remain prime minister.

International institutions and human rights associations hesitated for a
long time before divulgating the reality to Western and international
public opinion, despite multiple alerts sent by numerous Iraqi sources
on the tragic situation in Iraq. Now it is done. We support every effort
and action to prevent local Iraqi authorities and the US occupation from
continuing their criminal repression of Iraqis, to make the criminals
involved accountable for their crimes, and to compensate the victims.

We call on the UN General Assembly and the
UN Security Council, with the aid of human rights associations and
institutions, to take action to save the Iraqi people from these bloody
policies and criminal authorities. We call on individuals, associations,
institutions and governments to constitute a united front to take action
to stop the repression in Iraq.
The BRussells Tribunal